Contagious
by Lady Kasai
Summary: Have you ever blown your nose with your hand? Yeah, neither has Demyx.


"…Are you crying?"

"No."

"Then why are your eyes all red?"

"I have _allergies_."

"Allergies."

"Yes." The blonde pawed at his right eye irritably, then resumed his glare at the redhead. He couldn't help it, really. It wasn't his fault that Nobodies retained the characteristics of their Other. His just happened to have allergies. If he ever found them, he'd probably kill them out of spite, and to hell with the consequences.

A smile of amusement curved Axel's lips. "Sure you're not crying?"

"Axel!" There was a sick, fluid sound from Demyx's nose as he tried to breathe. "Lay off, okay? I'm miserable."

"Yeah, yeah. Why don't you just blow your nose? It should get a lot of that out of there."

Demyx scowled. His perusal of the room they were in—the pod room, of all rooms—provided that there was not, in fact, a box of tissues available. He indicated this to his partner with an impatient sweep of his hand, stomped his foot once, and sniffed thickly once more.

Axel shrugged. "Use your hand."

A look of horror crossed the musician's face. "My _hand_?"

"Yeah. You know, use your fingers to scrape the snot off your nose, then fling it off. It's easy. Like this." The pyromaniac wrapped his thumb and forefinger around the tip of his nose and exhaled through his nostrils forcefully, clasping his digits around the appendage quickly. With a sharp flick of his hand, he cleared the majority of the offending mucous from his fingers, then wiped the remaining fluid onto his pants. "Got it?"

Demyx stared blankly at the other Nobody. His stomach churned threateningly and his jaw hung slack in disbelief, and as he tried to choke up the words, his lips trembled in half-formations of letters and gagging motions. "You—"

"Oh, come on—"

"That was—"

"It's not that bad—"

"_Repulsive_—"

"Demyx—"

"On the floor!"

The blonde finally recovered his wits and stalked angrily to the other side of the white room where he promptly sat on the floor. Axel was torn between feeling exasperated and falling to the floor in crippling laughter, but he chose the former to save face and instead cocked a hip at his friend. "Well it's not _my _fault you're the bitch of the bunch."

The musician sputtered. "Bitch?"

"Please. You have lotion in your room. And you use it on your _hands_."

"You just blew your nose into your _hand_! How am I supposed to think it's anything but vile?"

"Suit yourself, doll." Axel turned a shoulder and walked to the door, then paused. With a glance over his shoulder, he took in the sight of Demyx sitting on the floor miserably. "But you know you're going to try it after I'm gone." With that, he left.

Demyx stared at the door for a few moments after his partner's departure. His sinuses were pounding, swollen with the built-up pressure of the extra mucous, and as he continued to stare, he sniffed twice, neither attempt bringing any successful breaths. Finally, he lifted his hand and looked over, not wanting to consider the appalling ritual that had just taken place before his eyes. He didn't want to do it because it was gross, and he didn't want to do it because that would make Axel right.

But his nose was so stuffed…

With a defeated sigh, he shut his eyes tightly and raised his fingers to the tip of his nose. His other hand curled around his midsection protectively should he miss, and with one deep breath, he expelled the breath through his nose. A thick churning sound echoed throughout the room and the blond grimaced as he felt the contents of his nasal passage rearrange, and then…nothing.

There was a hefty pause before Demyx took his hand away from his face. One eye, then the other, squinted open to focus on his palm. A frown pulled at his mouth when he realized that not only had it done nothing for his sinuses, but also that there wasn't a droplet of snot on his hand.

Laughter sounded in the hall, and as the musician glanced up, he saw the merry eyes of Axel peering through the window.

"Axel!"

The redhead entered the room, then promptly fell to his knees in hilarity.

Demyx blushed crimson, then tackled the redhead, taking great care to wipe his palm down the length of Axel's back.

It only occurred to him afterwards that he could have just used his sleeve.


End file.
